Heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) systems are often used to control the comfort level within a building or other structure. Such HVAC systems typically include an HVAC controller that controls various HVAC components of the HVAC system in order to affect and/or control one or more environmental conditions within the building.
In some cases, it may be desirable to install one or more ports within an HVAC system in order to measure, for example, an air pressure or air pressure drop within the HVAC system. For instance, many forced air HVAC systems include an air filter to help remove dust and other pollutants from within the building and to protect the HVAC equipment from dust buildup which may negatively impact system performance. The air filter will become dirty over time, and as part of regular maintenance, the air filter should be changed. Continuing to run an HVAC system with an excessively dirty filter can reduce the efficiency of the HVAC system, and in some cases, can cause damage and/or reduce the expected lifetime of some of the HVAC components. In order to help prevent the undesirable side effects of running an HVAC system with an excessively dirty filter, it may be desirable for an HVAC system to alert a user when an air filter needs to be changed. The buildup of dust in the air filter may be correlated to an air pressure or air pressure drop within the system. In this example, it may be desirable to utilize pressure sensors within the HVAC system to monitor the quality of the air filter. This is just one example of when it may be desirable to install one or more ports, at selected locations, within an HVAC system.